Other view: Walker should expand Medicaid

Gov. Scott Walker will never be a fan of the Affordable Care Act. His actions and statements during the past two years certainly attest to that.

But Walker also realizes that the act is law, no matter how much he and some of his Republican colleagues dislike it. So it's time that the governor step up to the plate, hold his nose if he needs to and do what is in the best interests of Wisconsin by agreeing to expand the state's Medicaid program.

Here's what's at stake. While estimates vary, expanding Medicaid in Wisconsin could impact some 200,000 citizens, including nearly 8,000 in our region. The expansion would include childless adults ages 18 to 65 with individual incomes below $15,414 a year. The federal government would fully cover the expansion cost through 2016 and then scale back to 90 percent funding by 2020.

Walker said his decision will be made when he announces his budget later this month. He is clearly concerned about how much the state will pay in the future, but states have the option to withdraw.

This much also is clear. We will pay for the costs one way or another. Many of the possible participants are people working part-time jobs that offer no health insurance coverage. If we want to expand our workforce and grow jobs in Wisconsin, we need to make sure more people have access to medical coverage.

As Dr. Laurie Logan, a family practitioner at Mayo Clinic Health System-La Crosse said during a press conference recently, postponing health care simply puts more people into the emergency room, which is the most expensive coverage.

We also know that if Walker does not accept the expansion, the state will continue to pay for 40 percent of the coverage (the feds pay the rest) for people already covered under various programs. And new figures released by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau show Wisconsin could cover up to 175,000 additional people and save $66 million during the first three years.

The state's cost for from 2016 through 2020 would be an additional $67 million, but Wisconsin would get $4.56 billion from the federal government. That's a pretty good return on investment and one would hope - under Walker's leadership - that the state's economy will grow and the number of people needing Medicaid-funded programs would diminish.

Democrats certainly are in favor of the expansion. But if the governor doesn't want to listen to Democrats, he should listen to the Wisconsin Hospital Association, the Wisconsin Medical Society and other state groups that support the expansion of Medicaid.

"There will be much debate on this issue with valid opinions on both sides," Steve Brenton, president of the Wisconsin Hospital Association told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "But at the end of the day, in this time of uncertainty, we cannot have fewer people with coverage and more uncompensated care."

The governor has certainly not ignored some of the health care needs in the state. His first budget expanded Medicaid spending by $1.2 billion. But other Republican governors around the country who have been opposed to the Affordable Care Act have done the right thing for their citizens and accepted the expansion.

We hope that Wisconsin will join them. It's our money, too.

- LaCrosse Tribune

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Other view: Walker should expand Medicaid

Gov. Scott Walker will never be a fan of the Affordable Care Act. His actions and statements during the past two years certainly attest to that.

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